FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Monday, October 23, 2017

Brooklyn Man Sentenced to 25 Years in Prison for
2004 Rape of 68-Year-Old Fort Greene Woman

Cold Case DNA Hit after 2013 Arrest Led to Charges

Acting Brooklyn District Attorney Eric Gonzalez today announced that a 47-year-old man was sentenced to 25 years in prison for raping a 68-year-old woman after breaking into her Fort Greene apartment in 2004. The defendant was charged with the rape as a result of a “cold hit” following his 2013 arrest in an attempted kidnapping case for which he was required to provide a DNA profile to the New York State DNA databank.

Acting District Attorney Gonzalez said, “I hope that today’s sentence will bring a small measure of closure to the victim in this case. This defendant might have thought he got away with this brutal and vicious attack, but technology caught up with him. We will continue to use DNA and other forensic tools to bring offenders to justice.”

The Acting District Attorney identified the defendant as Willie Weathers, 47, of Brooklyn. He was sentenced today by Brooklyn Supreme Court Justice Ruth Shillingford to 25 years in prison following his conviction earlier this month of first-degree rape after a jury trial. The sentence will run consecutively to a prison sentence the defendant is currently serving.

The Acting District Attorney said that, according to trial testimony, on July 27, 2004, at approximately 7 p.m., the defendant pushed his way into the victim’s Fort Greene, Brooklyn, apartment, breaking down her door. He strangled and raped her. Before fleeing, he took money from her dresser and ripped a chain and a bracelet off of her body.

The victim’s husband returned home from church approximately a half hour after the defendant fled, found his wife and asked a neighbor to call the police. She was taken to Brooklyn Hospital and a sexual assault evidence collection kit was administered.

The defendant was arrested on July 29, 2013, for an attempted gunpoint kidnapping and his DNA was uploaded into the New York State DNA databank and was a match for the DNA collected from the victim in the 2004 rape kit. He is presently serving 10 years in prison after pleading guilty to second-degree attempted kidnapping.

The case was prosecuted by Senior Assistant District Attorney Alana Tierney and Senior Assistant District Attorney Deborah Cohen, of the District Attorney’s Special Victims Bureau, under the supervision of Assistant District Attorney Miss Gregory, Chief.